Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Godspeed You! Black Emperor released a string of albums from 1997-2002 widely recognized as redefining what protest music can be, where longform instrumental chamber rock compositions of immense feeling and power serve as soundtracks to late capitalist alienation and resistance. The band’s first four releases—especially F#A#∞ (1997) and Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven (2000)—are variously regarded as classics of the era and genre. Godspeed's legendary live performances, featuring multiple 16mm projectors beaming a collage of overlapping analog film loops and reels—along with the distinctive iconography, imagery and tactility of the band's album artwork and physical LP packages— further defines the sui generis aesthetic substance, ethos and mythos of this group. GY!BE has issued two official band photos in its 25-year existence (the second, left, a 2010 recreation of the first from 1997) and has done a half-dozen collectively-answered written interviews over that same span. The band has never had a website or social media accounts. It has never made a video. Few rock bands in our 21st century have been as steadfast in trying to let the work speak for itself and maintaining simple rules about minimising participation in cultures of personality, exposure, access, commodification or co-optation.
Following a seven-year hiatus that began in 2003, Godspeed returned to the stage in December 2010 (curating the UK festival All Tomorrow’s Parties) and the band’s post-reunion period has now lasted over a decade, marked by hundreds of sold-out live shows and three additional albums, all of which have been met with high acclaim.
G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END! – the band’s fourth post-reunion album (and eighth overall) – was released on April 2nd, 2021.
Live Dates
08 Mar 2023 - Montreal, QC @MTelus
09 Mar 2023 - Montreal, QC @MTelus
13 Mar 2023 - San Francisco, CA @The Chapel [with Jessica Moss]
14 Mar 2023 - San Francisco, CA @The Chapel [with Jessica Moss]
15 Mar 2023 - San Francisco, CA @The Chapel [with Jessica Moss]
16 Mar 2023 - San Francisco, CA @The Chapel [with Jessica Moss]
17 Mar 2023 - San Francisco, CA @The Chapel [with Jessica Moss]
18 Mar 2023 - Pioneertown, CA @Pappy & Harriet's [with Jessica Moss]
19 Mar 2023 - Garden Grove, CA @Garden Amphitheatre [with Jessica Moss]
21 Mar 2023 - Fort Collins, CO @Washington's [with Jessica Moss]
22 Mar 2023 - Salt Lake City, UT @The Depot [with Jessica Moss]
23 Mar 2023 - Boise, ID @Treefort Music Festival [with Jessica Moss]
08 Apr 2023 - The Hague, NL @Rewire Festival
09 Apr 2023 - Amsterdam, NL @Paradiso
10 Apr 2023 - Diksmuide, BE @4AD
11 Apr 2023 - Lille, FR @L'Aéronef
12 Apr 2023 - Rennes, FR @Le MeM
14 Apr 2023 - Lyon, FR @Le Transbordeur
15 Apr 2023 - Berne, CH @Dachstock
16 Apr 2023 - Geneve, CH @PTR L'Usine
17 Apr 2023 - Karlsruhe, DE @Substage
18 Apr 2023 - Cologne, DE @Kantine
19 Apr 2023 - Hamburg, DE @Uebel & Gefährlich
21 Apr 2023 - Copenhagen, DK @Vega
22 Apr 2023 - Aarhus, DK @Voxhall
23 Apr 2023 - Göteborg, SE @Pustervik
24 Apr 2023 - Stockholm, SE @Berns
25 Apr 2023 - Oslo, NO @Sentrum
27 Apr 2023 - Bergen, NO @USF Verftet
28 Apr 2023 - Stavanger, NO @Folken
29 Apr 2023 - Kristiansand, NO @Aladdin Scene